04 April, 2012

In our early days we sold this VO leather track style top tube protector. It was made from very thick leather and intended to protect your top tube from being dented when track bike handlebars slammed into it. Bikes with brake cables usually don't get these dents because the brake cables "slow" the bars. Folks still email occasionally asking if we have any left.

Igor, our warehouse manager, wanted a top tube protector for a different reason. He wanted to protect his paint when he leaned his bike against a parking meter or street sign. But he didn't like the BMX-style top tube pads sometimes used for this purpose. So Igor made the protector below out of the elk hide that we use for bar covers.

I think it's a pretty good idea. It would work even better on a bike with a run of cable, rather than cable housing because it would fit under the wire better. Or you could sew it over the housing. In any case, do you think this is something we should make?

33 comments:

Yes, definitely. I couldn't find any good looking top tube protectors, so I sewed up my own this year. My use is for parking as well, not the bars turning. I used a black leathery material and sewed a wool lining on the inside and it looks pretty fancy. Because I generally only use it on Fridays on the way to the bar, I sewed on velcro so it's removable so I don't have to carry it on the long rides too. I can provide pictures if you want to see it.

Yes! In addition to the uses cited in the post & comments, the occasional cyclocross portage that urban riding necessitates could be more comfortable with such a protector, both the weight on the shoulder as well as keeping over- or under-top-tube-mounted cables from biting hands & shoulders.

Yes, great for top tube protection when locking in the city. I actually asked my wife to sew me something similar out of fabric for the same purpose. This would be way better cause it would match leather saddles and all the other great leather stuff VO sells that I have.

No. I am hard-pressed to see the value of these moisture trappers. How hard is it to take a thing as valuable and fine as a bicycle and not carefully place it when parking? It is one hell of a lot easier to put your bicycle into a position of rest than it is to parallel park a car. Are all of you so stupid and lazy that you need constant cushions for your carelessness?

Just kidding. I actually think that every last remaining animal on the planet should die so that we can finally get down to wrapping our stuff in human skin. (Can I get in trouble for this?) All I know is that when I park my bike, (my steel darlin') I don't need no dang buffer. Good Lord.

I think the original one was the best! Classic looking and understated, it got better with age, and didn't shout out "Look at me!", while still attracting the attention of someone who appreciated a good looking piece of leather.

No. There is nothing wrong with a little rubbing or even a small chip in the paint of a bicycle. Why go through the trouble of having a nice looking bike and then cover it up with a piece of hide, or synthetic corpse, or whatever. Protecting the top tube from a dent is one thing, but wrapping the entire tube so it "looks good", nope. If you are that vain about it, carry a parking cover with you, or just slow down when parking. Otherwise, repaint the bike after it has been well loved.

I say no. We all know that locking to the top tube makes for the most unstable lean and takes up the most space. Bikes that fall while locked are usually locked to the top tube. Locking to the head tube or seat cluster works much better. Then you'll be covering everything in leather. Of course that brings the dogs. Once one pees on your bike they all have to. Getting an elk hide top tube protector is just gilding the lilly.

In regards to putting it under a run of cable, what do you guys think of creating a type of ferrule that would be inserted into road bike style cable guides to transform them into mountain bike style cable stops?

Maybe -- I think that for daily commuters and city bikes, when the bike is constantly around sharp and shabby posts and other bikes being jammed in, this is a good option. I have a pad now and, while useful, it's ugly.

I just sewed on some elkhide handlebar wraps, and used the scrap that was left for a 4" strip on my top tube. When taught it's the wrapped the full circumference of the steel top tube. Now I need to be good about aligning my bike to signs and still locking it up properly. So long, BMX style canvas tube!